By Robert ColeThe author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnists. The opinions expressed are his own.

European fund managers can heave a sigh of relief. On Wednesday the European Parliament rejected the plan of Sven Giegold, the German MEP, to place strict limits on bonus payments and to outlaw some performance fees.

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

David Cameron’s wish to reform the EU has been met with barely-disguised derision in Berlin, Paris and Brussels. It is not that Europe thinks it is perfect: Merkel, Hollande, Draghi et al know they have mountains to climb. In principle and in practice, the euro project has big problems. But why on earth should the leaders of Europe make a complex job more difficult for themselves by pandering to the prejudices of its peripheral northern cousin?

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions
expressed are his own)

By Robert Cole

LONDON, April 4 (Reuters Breakingviews) – Fund managers make
too much money. Or so Sven Giegold, a German member of the
European parliament, seems to think. He is pushing proposals in
Brussels that would impose bonus caps on asset managers’ pay.
Borrowing from strictures about to be inflicted on EU bankers,
the Giegold initiative would stop fund managers receiving annual
bonuses worth more than 100 percent of base salary.

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

George Osborne, the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, will present his annual budget on March 20. To maintain credibility he needs to stick to his austerity agenda. To tackle debt he needs to protect tax revenue. To maximise revenue, and appease recession-restless voters, he needs to promote economic growth. He could do all three by stamping on the UK’s property transaction tax and closing a loophole: capital gains tax (CGT) is not currently levied on owner-occupied homes.

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own)

Once bitten, twice shy. In fact, investors in Japan have been bitten many times by the seductive notion that the land of the rising sun is emerging from its bear-market night. They would be forgiven for shying away this time.

It is three years since a massive earthquake devastated Haiti. A new book by Jonathan Katz suggests that the ensuing international aid effort gave the stricken the Caribbean country all possible assistance, short of actual help. He suggests, indeed, that the outsiders did more harm than good.

Haiti’s crisis plucked at the world’s heart strings. Bill Clinton, Sean Penn and Angelina Jolie were among the famous names who stepped up as advocates for the dispossessed. Katz reports that $16.3 billion, much from the United States, was donated. But the effort fell woefully short. “The world came to save Haiti and left behind a disaster”, he writes.

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

Investors have started 2013 feeling bold. Equities are firm, bonds are weak and gold is soft. Is this the long-awaited rotation back to risk? Many market participants say so. But betting on a herd movement is a dangerous investment strategy.

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

Shareholders in News Corp would be forgiven for being outraged at a report that Rebekah Brooks, the former CEO of News Corp’s UK newspapers, has received a 7 million pound “payoff”. She left her post in July last year as allegations of phone hacking engulfed the News of the World and led to the abrupt closure of the Sunday tabloid owned by the company.

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

After years of make-do-and-mend, the UK is once again arguing about the London’s airport capacity, and the possibility of a third runway at Heathrow. Most people seem keen only to rubbish plans they dislike. The right approach is to give airtime to all ideas – and then make a firm decision.

LONDON, July 24 (Reuters Breakingviews) – Barclays (BARC.L: Quote, Profile, Research)
in an ugly fix. The rate-rigging scandal has laid waste to the
bank’s senior leadership and trashed its reputation with
regulators, politicians and customers. Barclays shares have
slumped to barely half the average traded price over the last 12
months. There are plenty of reasons to be wary. But a
“normalised” Barclays could offer investors some striking gains.

About Robert

"Robert is Assistant Editor of Reuters Breakingviews, based in London. He has a special focus on investment, writing about it on a global basis. Robert worked for The Times, in London, in a variety of writing and editing capacities from 1998 to 2010. For nearly 10 years he edited the newspaper’s daily Tempus investment column. He was also deputy business editor, acting business editor, a leader writer, the chief obituaries writer and a news editor in the home affairs department. Prior to joining The Times, Robert worked on The Independent and the London Evening Standard. His most recent book is ..."